Therefore, I exhort the elders among you,
as your
fellow alder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a
partaker of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the
flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under
compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and
not for sordid gain, but wit eagerness; nor yet as lording it
over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples
to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will
receive the unfading crown of glory.

This is a text about how to shepherd a suffering church. Recall
what the previous paragraph was about. It started in 4:12,

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery
ordeal among
you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some
strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you
share the sufferings of Christ keep on
rejoicing.

Then in verse 17 this suffering is explained as the beginning
of the judgment of God which starts with the church and then moves
out to the unbelieving world:

For it is time for judgment to begin with
the
household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be
the outcome of those who do not obey the gospel of
God?

Then Peter begins today's text in 1 Peter 5:1 with "Therefore I
exhort the elders among you." "Therefore" -- in the light of this
suffering in the church and in the light of the judgment of God
that is purifying the church before it punishes the world -- in
the light of that, here's how to shepherd the suffering flock.

Keeping this in mind -- that this is a short course in
elder-shepherding for a suffering church -- will help us get the
gist of what follows.

Three Observations

Let's begin with some simple but important observations. First,
the churches had elders. This letter you remember (1:1) is written
to churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bythinia.
This is a huge and diverse area, and probably included dozens or
hundreds of churches. And Peter, without hesitation or
qualification, addresses the elders in these churches. We learn
from this that elders were the normal way churches were led in the
New Testament time.

Second, the elders were shepherds, that is, they were pastors.
The noun "pastor" or "shepherd" only occurs once in the New
Testament in reference to the leaders of the church (Eph. 4:11).
But the verb "to shepherd" occurs several times. It occurs here in
verse 2, "Shepherd the flock of God." Jesus uses it when he says
to Peter, "Shepherd by sheep" (John 21:16). And Paul uses it when
he says to the Ephesian elders, "Shepherd the church of God which
he purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). So elders were the
shepherds of the flock, the pastors (just another word for
shepherd).

Third, the elder-shepherds are charged with oversight. Verse 2:
Peter says to the elders, "Shepherd the flock of God among you,
exercising oversight." Oversight is not the only duty of
shepherding, but it is the one Peter mentions here in the
situation of suffering. It's made up of two words in Greek just
like it is in English: "over" and "sight". Elder-shepherds
exercise oversight. They are "overseers" (as Paul says in 1
Timothy 3:1-2). They lookout over the flock. God holds them
accountable for seeing the big picture and acting for the good of
the whole flock.

In one sense the elder-shepherds are just sheep like every
other Christian, with Christ as the Chief Shepherd (v. 4). But by
virtue of their calling and their gifts and their affirmation by
the church, they have a responsibility that is different than the
rest of the sheep. Responsibility is the key word, or
accountability. The Chief Shepherd will hold them responsible --
he will call them to give an account someday for exercising
oversight. The rest of the sheep will not be called to give an
account for oversight. Only the elders, the shepherds. Did they
see the big picture? Did they act accordingly? Did they "exercise
oversight"?

Those are three simple, but very important observations: 1) the
churches had elders; 2) the elders were shepherds; and 3) the
elder-shepherds were charged with the oversight of the flock.

Now as far as I can tell, all of that was universal in the
early church. It didn't vary from church to church. It is not
unique to a suffering congregation. But what follows has a special
slant to it that I think comes from the situation of suffering
these churches were in.

Three Ways Elders are to Shepherd

As he addresses this situation of suffering, Peter tells us
three things about the kind of oversight elder-shepherds should
exercise: each of the three things has a negative and positive.

Verses 2b: exercise your oversight . . .

- not under compulsion,
+ but voluntarily, according to the will of God;

- and not for sordid gain,
+ but with eagerness;

Verse 3: exercise your oversight . . .

- nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge,
+ but proving to be examples to the flock.

Not Under Compulsion, but Voluntarily

Why does Peter begin by telling the elders to exercise their
oversight "not under compulsion, but voluntarily"? What kind of
situation might result in having elders who don't want to be
elders? That seems to be the situation, doesn't it? There is a
threat that elders in these churches are feeling like the work is
not really something they want to do. They are feeling forced to
do it, when they would really rather be doing something else.

My suggestion is that it's the suffering of the church that
accounts for Peter's emphasis here. It's really very simple.
Elder-shepherds have less desire to be elders and shepherds if its
dangerous and difficult. There are at least two reasons to think
that it was dangerous to be the shepherds of suffering flocks.

One is that when persecution comes the leaders of the flock are
the most visible and sometimes the most vulnerable. If you are the
shepherd of a suffering flock, you will be among the first to
fall. That's the way it was with Richard Wurmbrand and his wife
and Joseph Tson in Romania. That's the way it was with Stephen and
the Peter and James in the early church. Stephen was probably the
most eloquent spokesman of the Hellenistic wing. And James and
Peter were the leaders of the whole church. Stephen was killed in
Acts 7; and James was killed in Acts 12; and Peter barely escaped
the sword of Herod by a miracle.

So it's dangerous to be a leader when the church is under
persecution. These churches were about to go through a fiery
ordeal (4:12) and it is understandable that the elder-shepherds
might look for another job.

A second reason the elder-shepherds might shrink back from
their duty is that not only are they vulnerable to man's normal
antagonisms, but they are also vulnerable to God's judgment in a
peculiar way. You recall that 1 Peter 4:17 says God's judgment had
begun with the house of God. There is a scary reference here to
Ezekiel 9 for the elders. Ezekiel 9 is a description of the way
God brought judgment on his people once before. He he not only
began at the house of God; he began with the elders.

4 And the Lord said to him [an
angel], "Go
through the midst of the city, even through the midst of
Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh
and groan over all the abominations which are being committed
in its midst." 5 But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go
through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have
pity, and do not spare. 6 Utterly slay old men, young men,
maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man
on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary." So
they started with the elders who were before the
temple.

In other words, it has been God's way bring judgment on his own
people beginning with the house of God (as 4:17 says) and in the
house of God beginning with the elder-shepherds.

So it's not surprising that the elders in the churches of
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bythinia might have been
reluctant to exercise oversight. So Peter says exercise your
oversight "not under compulsion, but voluntarily."

What this means is that danger and difficulty is one test of
the true elder-shepherd. Just this week we have been reading in
John 10 and I saw this with tremendous personal forcefulness and
relevance. Jesus said in John 10: "He who is a hireling, and not a
shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf
coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches
them, and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and is
not concerned about the sheep." In other words the presence of
danger and difficulty tend to separate the hirelings from the
shepherds.

They tend to. But Peter warns that there are a couple strong
worldly motives for being and elder-shepherd even when your heart
is not in it. The two motives are money and power. A man might
even risk danger for a while if it meant a comfort boost of
financial gain, or an ego boost of power.

Not For Sordid Gain, but with Eagerness

Verse 2 at the end: exercise your oversight "not for sordid
gain, but with eagerness." "Sordid gain" means making the ministry
a means to get rich. It means being motivated by money in the
ministry. It means thinking constantly about vacations and days
off and retirement benefits instead of thinking about the value of
the human soul and the preciousness of truth and the power of the
Holy Spirit and the coming glory of the Chief Shepherd. A man
might even hang on for a while in the face of great difficulty if
he could make godliness a means of gain, as Paul said in 1 Timothy
6:5.

Not Lording It Over, but Proving to Be Examples

Then in verse 3 Peter warns against the other worldly motive
that might keep an elder-shepherd in office when his heart for it
is gone. He says that we should not exercise our oversight as
"lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be
examples to the flock."

"Lording it over" implies that the elder-shepherd is driven by
the love of power. He gets an ego high from flaunting his
authority and prestige and dominance. He needs to be up front. He
likes the best seats in the synagogue, as Jesus said. He likes to
be addressed with titles. He craves the praise and the dependence
of men. He may be a boisterous domineering sort. Or he may
manipulate with the feigned pain of a wounded hero. Or he may be a
consummate politician who measures his words so as to curry the
favor of the powerful and enhance his security in office.

Peter says: the test of such elder-shepherds is in their life
-- their whole life. Are they examples for the flock. Verse 3: Do
not lord it over the flock, "but prove to be examples to the
flock." Is their public oversight a show, or does their whole life
prove their authenticity? Is there a public shepherd and a
different private shepherd? What about his family and his finances
and his hospitality and his discernment and reputation among
spiritual people and those outside?

Motivation for Elder-Shepherds

Sometimes we think that seasons of suffering are automatically
purifying for the church and its leaders; and in general they are.
But Peter makes it plain here that it is not so simple. He was
writing into a season of suffering. And instead of assuming that
danger and difficulty would automatically cleanse the eldership,
he warns that even when men have lost the heartfelt desire for the
great work of shepherding the flock of God, and even when they may
face danger difficulty in it, some might hang on because of money
and power.

O how discerning the church needs to be. O how we
elder-shepherds need to "take heed to ourselves" as well as to all
the flock (Acts 2:28)! And search ourselves and test ourselves and
see if there be any wicked way in us. If we don't, God will.

What then can sustain the love expressed in the words: Exercise
oversight "with eagerness." Do you see that phrase at the end of
verse 2? Shepherd the flock "with eagerness". That is, want to!
Love to! Delight to! Here is real love for the flock -- eagerness
to shepherd, not motivated by money or power.

What can sustain that kind of love? Peter tells us in verse 4:
"And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the
unfading crown of glory."

I am in touch with a good number pastors around the country and
a good number of elders. I don't know any today who would say that
their job is easy. But the ones I know best (in this church and
beyond) are good men. What keeps them going is not the love of
money or the love of power. What keeps them going is that when the
Chief Shepherd comes he is going to call us to account and say,
"Did you feed my sheep? Were you vigilant over the souls of my
sheep? Did you seek my lost sheep? Did you guard the deposit of my
truth? Did you stand watch against the wolves? Did you love my
flock?"

And when the Chief Shepherd comes, with him will come his
everlasting reward: the unfading crown of glory. And that will be
enough for the elder-shepherd. God is building something wonderful
at Bethlehem: elder-shepherds, deacons, ministers of mercy of all
kinds. You are a part of it. Pray. Dream. Be ready. God is
building and calling. Listen for him.